Sunray has lower unemployment (2.8%) than 73% of U.S. towns
The trip to work takes 16 minutes on average, next to 27 for Texas and 26 for the U.S. Jobs and income earn Sunray B−; getting around on foot earns it D. About one in five work in Sunray itself; outside it, Cactus draws the most (13%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Sunray stands out on work
Fewer jobs are based in Sunray than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Sunray fell from 779 in 2013 to 417 in 2023, −46%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Sunray are quick
The average trip to work takes 16 minutes, against 27 across Texas. That’s about 84 hours a year less on the road than the typical Texas worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
33% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 582 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How Sunray earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Sunray is better than 46% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Sunray’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 20% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sunray could be anywhere from D to A−.
65% of the jobs in Sunray pay over $3,333 a month
417 jobs are based in Sunray.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sunray, 2013 → 2023: 779 → 417. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Sunray’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 16 minutes in Sunray
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sunray workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 928 commuters (the 9% who work from home are left out). Across Texas: 83% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Short hops and long hauls from Sunray
About 33% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
The daily commute in and out of Sunray
On a workday 476 residents head out to work, 106 work right here, and 311 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
0.72 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where people from Sunray work
Where Sunray clocks in
10% of workers
8% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
For most of Sunray, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sunray is more walkable than 7% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Sunray near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,022 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 5.8% of Sunray households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Sunray’s commuters take a bus or train.
Sunray places 2,383rd of 5,760 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Seis Lagos TX | 1,391 | $249K | 1.2% | 4.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Rollingwood TX | 1,466 | $240K | 4.6% | 2.4% | 3% | A+ |
| 26 | Oak Leaf TX | 1,684 | $132K | 2.8% | 5.5% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,381 | Fallon Station NV | 1,399 | $67K | 1.2% | 0.0% | 0% | B− |
| 2,382 | Fairview NC | 2,298 | $92K | 25.2% | 5.7% | 2% | B− |
| 2,383 | Sunray TX | 1,739 | $66K | 8.2% | 2.8% | 18% | B− |
| 2,384 | Woodbranch TX | 1,624 | $86K | 26.6% | 5.0% | <1% | B− |
| 2,385 | Yacolt WA | 1,730 | $85K | 5.8% | 1.7% | <1% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,760 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Sunray, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Sunray: questions
What is the median household income in Sunray?
$66,488 (±$20,113) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sunray?
8.2%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sunray?
16 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sunray work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cactus (13%, 10 mi), Dumas (10%, 13 mi), Amarillo (8%, 57 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sunray walkable?
Sunray is more walkable than 7% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.0 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sunray without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sunray, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sunray
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.